diff --git a/riot/install.sh b/riot/install.sh
index 3729c3c03a..2eedf0fefa 100644
--- a/riot/install.sh
+++ b/riot/install.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,7 @@
 RIOT_BRANCH=master
+
+BASE_DIR=$(realpath $(dirname $0))
+pushd $BASE_DIR
 curl -L https://github.com/vector-im/riot-web/archive/${RIOT_BRANCH}.zip --output riot.zip
 unzip riot.zip
 rm riot.zip
@@ -6,3 +9,4 @@ mv riot-web-${RIOT_BRANCH} riot-web
 pushd riot-web
 npm install
 npm run build
+popd
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/riot/start.sh b/riot/start.sh
index 6e9ad218e1..2eb3221511 100644
--- a/riot/start.sh
+++ b/riot/start.sh
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
+BASE_DIR=$(realpath $(dirname $0))
+pushd $BASE_DIR
 pushd riot-web/webapp/
 python -m SimpleHTTPServer 8080 &
 PID=$!
 popd
-echo $PID > riot.pid
\ No newline at end of file
+echo $PID > riot.pid
+popd
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/riot/stop.sh b/riot/stop.sh
index d0a0d69502..ca1da23476 100644
--- a/riot/stop.sh
+++ b/riot/stop.sh
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+BASE_DIR=$(realpath $(dirname $0))
+pushd $BASE_DIR
 PIDFILE=riot.pid
 kill $(cat $PIDFILE)
-rm $PIDFILE
\ No newline at end of file
+rm $PIDFILE
+popd
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/synapse/start.sh b/synapse/start.sh
index dec9a7d035..6d758630a4 100644
--- a/synapse/start.sh
+++ b/synapse/start.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,7 @@
+BASE_DIR=$(realpath $(dirname $0))
+pushd $BASE_DIR
 pushd installations/consent
 source env/bin/activate
 ./synctl start
+popd
 popd
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/synapse/stop.sh b/synapse/stop.sh
index 916e774a99..ab376d8ac5 100644
--- a/synapse/stop.sh
+++ b/synapse/stop.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,7 @@
+BASE_DIR=$(realpath $(dirname $0))
+pushd $BASE_DIR
 pushd installations/consent
 source env/bin/activate
 ./synctl stop
+popd
 popd
\ No newline at end of file